[quote]
[ul][li]The vote in favour remains 82% for, 18% against - just as it was a month ago when Yahoo! reported on it.[/li][li]The guy who designed it said it came to him in a vision. That would be why the accompanying text is mindless bollocks, then. And it might explain the ‘soundwave’ security.[/li][li]He’s not even American - he’s a New Zealander [irrelevant in hindsight].[/li][li]It’s not on the judging shortlist for new entries.[/li][li]He’s admitted to having absolutely zero experience as a developer.[/li][li]He’s demanding the US government declare Manhattan a no-fly zone to enable his new weapon.[/li][li]He speaks about himself in the third person and quotes from the bible about his foresight: “’‘A city built on the hill cannot be hid,’’ he said in a telephone interview, reading from the Book of Matthew. He added: ‘The pharaohs created a structure much beyond their time. I’m saying in the 25th Century, people will look back to the 21st Century and say those who supported Mr. Turner’s dream were much beyond their time.’”[/ul][/li][/quote]
My first reaction in September was that of course the towers should be rebuilt, ASAP. But now I’m not so sure - whatever goes there will be there for generations, and any decisions made in excessive haste and passion will be regretted. Yes, it’s too soon to decide - appropriateness of memorials to other events and persons have usually taken generations, and even then aren’t always well thought out.
Economically, the towers may have been needed in the Sixties, but communications technology may have made them obsolete by now anyway. The companies that were there have adjusted already, and there is still empty office space in lower Manhattan, isn’t there?
Other than restoring the transportation links that NYC needs through there, for now I’m ready to say that the simple, empty foundations are memorial enough for a while. The hole in the skyline is enough of a reminder of what happened. Maybe that’s “waving the bloody shirt”, or maybe it’s simple respect for the dead.
I would imagine that the last thing survivors of this horrific attack would want to have to do, when going to pay respects to their lost co-workers, is have to take an elevator to the top floors of any building.
The problem is that (no offense to my friends in NYC - don’t forget I’m in Jersey) New Yorkers think everything that happens to them is unique and special. Just like Americans only more so. We see Israel getting bombed on an almost daily basis, but nobody really cares until it happens here.
There’s nothing “sacred” about the WTC site. It’s a place where there were some really cool buildings, and where some bad stuff happened. Bad stuff happens all the time, even if not on that scale. But let’s not fool ourselves into the PC lunacy about its being sacred and our needing ‘a place to cry’. Cry wherever the heck you want, but Please, let’s not show the world what a bunch of fucking babies we are, even if it’s true.
I say the only way to proceed is to rebuild it. And bigger.
::Blink:: Where did that come from, Lord Ashtar? Where did I say or even imply that you hadn’t read the link.
Hint - “read” is also used in the past tense.
Okay, that was my fault. I missunderstood you. My apoligies. I thought you were implying that I posted a link without having read (past tense) through it.
Can’t we just leave it alone for awhile? Why is there such a rush?
I think we should let some more time pass before deciding what to do with the site. Leaving it barren for awhile, with just the footprints of the towers, is compelling in its rawness.
English “allows” you to do whatever the hell you want, Chula. The “I understood” rule has taken its place beside the “you understood” rule in English.
Certainly, in written English, what I wrote was open to two interpretations. In spoken English, the misunderstanding would not have arisen, as the present and past tenses have different pronunciations.
It means that New Yorkers think that New York is the world. If it hasn’t happened in New York, then it either hasn’t happened, or it doesn’t matter.
Nobody is clamoring to tear down the section of the Pentagon where hundreds of people died and replace it with a memorial. Why? Because it wasn’t New York. People in big cities generally want global solutions to local problems (gun control, for example), and New York is the worst one for that type of outlook.
I don’t know why you’re calling Joe_Cool an idiot, Lola. That’s an accurate characterization of most New Yorkers. Although with respect to 9/11, New York did seem to be the center of the world.
Sua, I still think that statement was grammatically incorrect, but that’s a topic for another thread.
Back to the original topic, I think they need to wait until they find a decent plan. Those six suggestions are really awful. No design is going to please everyone, but at least it should be something that someone likes.
Do you live in New York or the surrounding area? How well do you know the area and the people in it? Or are you just talking out your ass?
From my home I can see the Empire State Building and the WTC site. I spend a great deal of time there, including having worked in Manhattan during the weeks following Sept 11. I think I know the people that surround me.
So piss off.
Unless you can cite an article quoting New Yorkers as insisting that the destroyed shopping malls in Jerusalem remain unbuilt, and calling for a memorial to those killed in the bombings instead…
**Chula: **This doesn’t sound like the stupidest comment ever made to you?
Well, it does to me.
And Joe_Cool,
I live in NYC, you assnozzle, and of course anything that happens to us is unique and special to us! I was working in midtown on 9-11, and have a number of friends who worked in the WTC and the surrounding area.
We have no business telling Jerusalem how to memorialize their dead. I’m sure they think their situation “unique and special” to them. And we certainly shouldn’t have any say in how they choose to rebuild!
Why the hell are you even bringing Jerusalem into this???
The OP clearly states this is about how NEW YORKERS and how we choose to rebuild OUR skyline. You don’t even pay taxes here!!
Since you don’t live in NYC, you really are better off keeping your opinions to yourself. You really do sound incredibly foolish.
Lola, I live in Queens and work in Manhattan (the World Financial Center when not on client calls, where I was the morning of the attacks and as I write this), and I think that there is more than a grain of truth in Joe_Cool’s statement. This is a native NYer talking, not a transplant either. Different people see things differently; JC and I are on the same wavelength on this.
As for rebuilding, I don’t think we need to build new targets. I do think that getting top floors in an ultra-high complex rented would be insanely difficult. I believe we need a memorial, but I’m of the opinion that the footprints do not necessarily have to be preserved. I believe that more commercial space downtown is needed to revive the lost commerce in this region. It’s hard to predict how much office space will be needed when it becomes available, but NY needs to attract business back downtown, so we can get around to paying police and fire personnel competitive salaries (competitive as compared to surrounding areas as opposed to the nation as a whole).
The “I understood” rule has taken its place beside the “you understood” rule in English.